1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the performance of a multi-stage service, such as printing of a document for example, within an information technology network.
2. Description of Related Art
The process of printing a document for example involves a plurality of computational procedures, such as translation of source data from, for example a word-processing document to a Page Control Language (PCL) file, ripping the PCL file to create a bitmap, and then operating a print engine on the basis of the bitmap to create indicia on a suitable form of print medium, such as paper. In our prior filed US patent application we disclose a manner in which certain of these procedures may be performed at different locations within an information technology network in order to optimise the efficiency of the process. The present invention relates to a manner in which the performance of a multi-stage service, such as printing, may be optimised within a network.